If I had £450 lying around...

"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228) 08/06/2014 at 06:46 • Filed to: Jaaag

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I'd buy !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , swap the LSD and rebuilt rear suspension into my Jag, get it MOT'd and sell it for £800-£1000. But i don't :(

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 08/06/2014 at 06:53

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I really want a Jag XJ with a blown engine to swap a modern diesel into. Reasonable fuel economy and reliability plus Jag looks and interior. Just one of my many questionable ideas. Once my insurance goes down and I got a job my wallet will probably get one hell of a work out...

duurtlang > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 08/06/2014 at 06:57

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If you're sure you can A. upgrade your car with this and B. make money on it as well it's really a shame you don't have the cash.

£450 isn't a fortune. What you could do is ask a trusted a friend to finance the project, where he buys the car and you do all the work. You can promise him his money back plus x% (50%?) of the profit you make. Only do so when you're sure you won't lose money and the person is trustworthy, also only do this with clear agreements in place in advance . I'd start with a time limit and the downgrade to the car.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > duurtlang 08/06/2014 at 08:17

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I'm pretty sure I can. £450 is rather low for non-functional '40s, so provided it's not a heap if worst comes to worst i could get my money back.

I could probably just about afford the price of the car on my own, but the cost of hiring a trailer/petrol to get it back would tip me over.

Oh, and I think my parents would kill me if I brought another car back home. I'm already going to look at a free Nissan Micra this evening, which I would either fix up for MOT and sell or just scrap.

I'll run it by them and see if their long-suffering nature would suffer a little longer ;)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 08/06/2014 at 08:24

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That's a great idea :) the reliability of these Jags is actually rather good (especially the engine and drivetrain, less so the niggling electronics).

Saying that, a modern TD would go down a treat. It'd have to be an inline engine as XJ40s had deliberately narrow engine bays. Blame BL politics: management wanted them to use the ubiquitous Rover V8, and Jaguar wanted a modern I6 so they said that the V8 wouldn't fit.

It bit them in the arse when they came to fit the V12, but it worked a treat beforehand :)

I'm thinking either a BMW 3.0l TD from a 330d/530d would work nicely. Failing that, the ubiquitous 2.2l HDi I4 would be very nice. It's used in pretty much anything diesel Ford, Peugeot or Citroen made during the early '00s, and also new MINI diesels.

Throw in a tune and you're looking at 185-200bhp and ~400lb-ft of torque (based on the results of my mate's 406 Coupe HDi tuning).

duurtlang > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 08/06/2014 at 08:24

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I'm not trying to be an ass, but you could try to finish some of your projects. Put most of your focus on one at the time.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > duurtlang 08/06/2014 at 08:35

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That was also a consideration. I was, in a small way, a little relieved when the tree fell on the Jag and Fiat. It sucked because I was looking forward to driving those cars, but it freed me up massively to work on my other projects.

The BMW will be fixed and sold shortly (I've got a set of kidneys ordered from eBay, the coolant needs refilling and the interior deep-cleaning, then it's good to go).

The Spitfire, which is the big one, is waiting for funds to chemically treat the chassis. It's difficult to tell whether buying this Jag would make that come around quicker, or delay it further. In the long-run I'll end up with more money (especially as I think my Jag's rear shocks are on their way out, and the diff has a lot of play), but I'm really not sure.

Why can't i just be filthy rich? It would solve so many problems ;)

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 08/06/2014 at 13:10

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Interesting info, seems like BL had a lot of strange politics like that. No wonder they're gone haha.

I was thinking BMW engine since a large proportion of diesels are FWD and an older 3 series diesel with rust issues is dirt cheap to use as a donor.

400lb ft of torque in a 406 coupe sounds like great fun. I imagine he goes through a lot of tyres though...

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 08/07/2014 at 01:53

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Tyres, no. Clutches, yes :S

Yeah BL was a real mess. Lots of politics between and within divisions. It would have been much better if Leyland and BMC were kept separate, BMC went under and Leyland purchased the good bits after the bankruptcy. As it was, the relatively small, dynamic and profitable Leyland was forced to take on the sprawling unprofitable BMC and the latter dragged the former under completely.

Oh, another thought. The 2.2HDi can also be found in the Jaguar X-Type, so you could even get one with Jaguar badges on :)

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 08/07/2014 at 05:53

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The X type was FWD though so I'd have to source a gearbox seperately. Would be nice to have one donor for the full drivetrain and electrical systems. Can always stick some ebay jag badges on it later haha.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 08/07/2014 at 05:59

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True :S in which case, Ford Transits here used that engine in RWD configuration. Not sure how good their gearboxes are, but the ones I've driven seem to be good enough :)

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 08/07/2014 at 06:11

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That's a good point too. Plenty of Transits rust out long before the engine and gearbox get any major wear. Be a cheap donor for some parts.

This is making my dumb idea seem a lot more reasonable. Must... Avoid... Project car hell.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 08/07/2014 at 07:30

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It's sounding like a better and better idea to me as well.....